NEW YORK, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks wavered and closed mixed on Friday, as investors worried about extreme weather in Florida.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 13.01 points, or 0.06 percent, to 21,797.79. The S&P 500 lost 3.67 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,461.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 37.68 points, or 0.59 percent, to 6,360.19.
Shares of many insurance companies dipped this week ahead of Hurricane Irma's landfall in Florida. Traders also concerned that the storm could negatively impact U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, shares of big banks such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs ticked up Friday after falling in the previous session, as investors increased their exposure to safe-haven assets like gold and bonds.
Expectations for tighter monetary policy in the United States have been dampened recently. Market expectations for a rate hike in December are just 36.2 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
In corporate news, U.S. credit reporting giant Equifax announced Thursday that a cyber-security incident could potentially impact approximately 143 million U.S. consumers.
Shares of Equifax slumped 13.66 percent to close at 123.23 U.S. dollars apiece Friday.
Overseas, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided earlier this week that the Eurozone base interest rate will remain at 0.00 percent.
The ECB President Mario Draghi said that the bank will decide on the calibration of its policy instruments beyond the end of the year, saying that "probably the bulk of these decisions will be taken in October." Enditem
